TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2017 /CNW/ — Celebrating the return of the NBA season, Foot Locker announces its latest year-long partnership with Toronto Raptors star and NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan, designed to drive excitement and build awareness of basketball’s storied history in Canada. To kick-off the partnership, Foot Locker today debuts “Original Basketball” digitally on its YouTube channel. The piece features basketball players from CIA Bounce the top Canadian basketball program with a number of alums in the ranks of the NBA adopting the 13 original rules of the game as created in 1892 by Canadian-American physical educator, James Naismith. After teaching the players the rules, DeRozan officiated the game, keeping the play true to its original Canadian roots. “Basketball is back and I’m partnering with Foot Locker to get fans here in Canada excited,” said DeRozan. “Relearning the game by its original rules and then trying my hand at refereeing…

Sarasota County Battalion Chief Bill Kocur. Oct. 17–SARASOTA COUNTY, FL– When Sarasota County Battalion Chief William “Billy” Kocur was at a fire, nothing could go wrong. He was always on top of making sure everyone knew their jobs, according to Assistant Chief and longtime friend Rod VanOrsdol. “He was a supporter of his line personnel and an extremely confident firefighter,” VanOrsdol said. “He could run a structure fire call to the ninth degree of perfection.” Kocur, 63, a lifelong Sarasota resident, served the Sarasota County Fire Department for 25 years before his death this weekend in a motorcycle accident in Georgia. Kocur was visiting his family’s cabin. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Riding motorcycles was his passion, VanOrsdol explained. “It’s tough to even think about,” VanOrsdol said. “We all kind of think of ourselves as being Teflon — those kinds of things don’t happen to us. They…

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers open their seasons with a back-to-back home-and-home series, and as the rivalry moves to Sunrise, Fla., there was much to appreciate in the new looks on both sides in Friday’s season opener. The Lightning pulled out a 5-3 win, and while much of the attention coming in was on the healthy return of Steven Stamkos, the buzz after the game was the line of Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde. Palat had two goals and Point had a goal and two assists, showing speed and chemistry together on the ice. “They were fantastic,” Stamkos said. “I think it was pretty evident in watching the game how good they were. They pound the puck, they make great plays, and they’re all smart players. That line carried us and played extremely well, and hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.”…

The Illinois Fighting Illini will take on the No. 22 USF Bulls from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. This is a homecoming of sorts for Fighting Illini head coach Lovie Smith, who was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2014-15, before he was fired after compiling an 8-24 overall record. Though they showed promise this year with a 6-10 finish — a four-game improvement over 2014. It’s worth noting, though, that they lost their final four games of the season. Despite the Bucs’ poor finish, the move to dump Smith, 57, just two years into his four-year contract is surprising. Smith’s replacement will be the fourth head coach in Tampa Bay since 2008, a fact that linebacker Lavonte David pointed out on Twitter. Smith didn’t win many home games at Raymond James, going just 3-13 in two seasons. That…

The houses for sale in and around Carrollwood-Northdale are just a small portion of more than 4 million homes sold in Florida and across the United States every year. We’re not just talking listed homes for sale, either. We’re talking about homes for sale — that sell. Looking for a home to buy? Or do you just like looking at what homes are on the market? Either way, here are the latest homes for sale in and around Carrollwood-Northdale listed by our partners at realtor.com. Source Article

The state of Florida is an awesome place to visit and many people love it so much that they end up calling it home. Regardless of whether you want to live in FL or not, however, it certainly is an area that is worth the visit. That is especially true if you live in the northern states and you are chilled by the winter weather. A trip to Florida can be a welcome relief and it can help you to get a little bit of warmth in the middle of the winter months. You don’t really need to travel far into Florida in order to begin enjoying some of what it has to offer. Most people who come to Florida are going to come down the East Coast on I-95 and just across the Florida line is Jacksonville. This city is an excellent place to stop and it has a…

The Mariners’ Mitch Haniger, center, celebrates with Kyle Seager, right, and Nelson Cruz left, after Haniger hit a grand slam off Tampa Bay starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. (Chris O’Meara/AP) ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There were no remnants of his once mangled lip. No bruising around his mouth or nose. No signs he was ever hurt. A person unfamiliar with what happened to Mitch Haniger wouldn’t know that he was force-fed a 96 mph from the Mets’ Jacob deGrom in a scary moment that landed him on the disabled list with a severely lacerated upper lip, a small fracture and a concussion. There was no mental scarring either. Haniger swore that the memory of that scary moment never once bothered him after he was cleared to play baseball again. “Zero, to be honest with you,” he said. “It’s a fluke thing. It wasn’t the easiest thing to get over. But as…

Although not universally embraced (most prominently by some conservative Hillsborough Republicans), most observers considered the Cross-Bay Ferry pilot project last winter and spring a success. The ferry was also a positive example of the region coming together on at least one project to deal with the vexing issue of transportation. Championing the plan, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman went hat-in-hand to local governments in Hillsborough, Tampa, Pinellas and his own City Council to raise $350,000 in total to get the project off the ground. At Tampa’s Mise en Place Thursday night, the mayor celebrated the collaboration. “There was a $1.6 million impact on our communities,” he said, calling it a first step in the path of continued cooperation to improve a desultory transit system in the Tampa Bay region. “If we want to keep our millennials to stay here,” he added, “if we want to attract businesses here, we have…

Mark Luther’s dream home has a window that looks out to a world of water. He can slip out the back door and watch dolphins swim by his private dock. Shore birds squawk from nearby nests in giant mangroves. He said it’s hard to imagine ever leaving this slice of paradise on St. Petersburg’s Bayou Grande, even though the water he adores is starting to get a little creepy. Over the 24 years since he moved into the house, the bayou has inched up a protective sea wall and crept toward his front door. As sea level rises, a result of global warming, it contributes to flooding in his Venetian Isle neighborhood and Shore Acres, a neighboring community of homes worth up to $2.5 million, about 70 times per year. “Why stay?” asked Luther, an oceanographer who knows perfectly well a hurricane could one day shove 15 feet of water…

Mr. Rooter of Tallahassee, a plumbing company in Tallahassee, FL, has announced the expansion of its available services. Already known as the most courteous and friendly Plumber in Tallahassee FL residents can go to, it has now ensured that no one in the community ever has to search for a different plumber again. The company has indicated that it is committed to providing the most high quality and diverse services when it comes to the city’s plumbing needs. The owner of Mr. Rooter of Tallahassee FL says: “We aim to be a neighborly company, one that is professional, courteous, and fair every step of the way. We also aim to make sure that people know they can come to us for any plumbing job, which is why we have expanded our services so that we can now take on any kind of plumbing job. There is a reason why they…